Rare blue diamond sells for record $57.5 million

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

The "Aurora Green" is the largest Fancy Vivid green diamond ever sold at auction. The stone went under the hammer on May 31, 2016 at Christie's auction house in Hong Kong, selling for $16,818,983.

Hide Caption

1 of 17

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

The world's largest blue diamond, an extremely rare gem known as "The Oppenheimer Blue", sold for $57.5 million at Christie's Geneva May 18, 2016, making it the most expensive diamond ever sold at auction.

Hide Caption

2 of 17

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

The 14.62 carat Fancy Vivid stone is mounted on a platinum ring and flanked on either side by a trapeze-shaped diamond.

Hide Caption

3 of 17

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

'The Unique Pink' is the largest Fancy Vivid pink pear-shaped diamond to ever be offered at auction.

Hide Caption

4 of 17

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

The diamond was sold for $31.6 million by Sotheby's, at an auction in Geneva. The price makes it the most expensive Fancy Vivid pink diamond to sell at auction.

Hide Caption

5 of 17

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

Cubic zirconia replicas of the original and a modern cut of the Kohinoor diamond, one of the oldest and most famous diamonds in the world.

Hide Caption

6 of 17

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

The De Beers Millennium Jewel 4 has broken auction records in Asia.

Hide Caption

7 of 17

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

The stone sold for $31.8 million, which makes it the most expensive piece of jewelry sold at an auction in Asia.

Hide Caption

8 of 17

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

Sotheby's auctioned this 9.54 carat ring it says belonged to child star Shirley Temple on April 19, 2016. Though it was expected to fetch between $25 million and $35 million, it failed to sell.

Hide Caption

9 of 17

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

This 12.03-carat blue diamond fetched $48.4 million at auction on November 11, 2015. It was previously the world's most expensive price-per-carat diamond sold.

Hide Caption

10 of 17

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

The fancy, vivid blue diamond was discovered in South Africa in January last year.

Hide Caption

11 of 17

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

In recent years, other high-value diamonds have hit the auction block. The 59.60-carat oval cut pink diamond known as "The Pink Star," went for $80 million at a 2013 Sotheby's auction. However, after the buyer defaulted on payment, it was returned to Sotheby's.

Hide Caption

12 of 17

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

This 118.28 oval white diamond became the largest sold at auction when it went for $30.6 million at a Sotheby's auction in 2013.

Hide Caption

13 of 17

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

In April 2015, a 100-carat, emerald cut, D color, internally flawless diamond -- the largest of its clarity and cut to ever be shown at auction -- sold for $22 million.

Hide Caption

14 of 17

Photos:A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

The 76.02-carat 400-year-old Archduke Joseph diamond set a new record for price per carat for a colorless diamond in 2012, when it sold for $21.5 million at a Christie's auction.

Jeweler Wallace Chan and a team of craftsman worked 47,000 hours to transform the stone it into this piece, which Chai Tai Fook estimates could be worth $200 million.

Hide Caption

17 of 17

Story highlights

The 14.62 carat "Oppenheimer Blue" diamond sold for a record-breaking $57.5 million

It is the world's most-expensive diamond to sell at auction

(CNN)The world's largest blue diamond, an extremely rare gem known as "The Oppenheimer Blue", sold for $57.5 million at Christie's Geneva Wednesday night, making it the most expensive diamond ever to be sold at auction.

The sparkling gem sold to a private collector, whose identity Christie's has not yet revealed.

Blue diamonds are exceptionally rare, comprising only around 0.0001% of the world's diamonds, according to Christie's. Of this tiny fraction, only about 1% are classified as Fancy Vivid, helping to explain the Oppenheimer's wallet-melting price tag.

They are second in rarity only to red diamonds, of which there are only around 100 known record stones in the world.

The Oppenheimer's record-breaking sale comes a day after the 15.38 carat "Unique Pink" sold for $31.6 million at a Sotheby's auction in Geneva -- the highest price ever paid for a pink diamond of that category.